Its here - SPRING! Its that wonderful time of the year when the colours start to return to our outdoors and we can enjoy nature without having to wrap up like a mummy to keep warm. And its also the time that people come up with those cheesy poems - I won't go there, you have my word :)

There are still plenty of things to be grateful for in our world and I do hope you take time out to make some heartfelt acknowledgements for those special things/places/people that make your life better in many ways.

Are we in crisis?Here are a few lines from the front of an interesting wee book... "...to every person who is at a higher risk of heart disease, to every person susceptible to type 2 diabetes and all who live under stressful conditions or are near burn out - let this book serve as a reminder that diet is important and that magnesium is crucial for your health and may even save your life...."

What is this all about? A simple mineral that some scientists refer to as the "forgotten ion". Its understood that virtually all physiological processes NEED magnesium. Its been a part of our evolution since the start of life on Earth, and in our current time deficiencies are widespread with the consequences vast - even having a life or death outcome.

Magnesium deficiency has the potential to affect each and everyone of us - even before we are born!

Its an important mineral in our body, if we want to break down a human body into elements it goes something like this - Close to 96% of the mass of the human body is made up of so called organic elements, they are: oxygen, carbon, hydrogen and nitrogen. A further 4% are generally classed as salts: calcium, phosphorus, potassium, sulfur, sodium, chlorine, and magnesium, iodine and iron. While the amount of magnesium may not sound like a lot(about 25 grams in your body) don't be fooled by thinking these minute amounts are not really that significant, All are necessary to live.

For those of you interested, the remaining 0.5% is trace elements, but even these small amounts are again essential for homeostasis.

So without boring you with too much anatomy and physiology lets look at some of the causes of magnesium deficiency.

A)Reduced intake from:

An unbalanced diet(too acidic)

Low magnesium foods, processed foods are notoriously low

B)Impaired absorption from:

Genetic weaknesses

Gastrointestinal diseases

Proton Pump Inhibitors(PPI's such as omeprazole) - Yes, thats the good ole Losec and other similar drugs.

Some of you may recall the main topic of the last couple of newsletters has been our acid base balance, well I need to tell you(again) that if you are too acidic you are more likely to be (or become) magnesium deficient.

The mechanism for most of the above causes are obvious, things like Losec reduce gastric acid production and then in turn if we don't produce enough gastric acid the magnesium cannot be released from the food(or even supplements).

Then of course we come to that old beast, "STRESS". Another cause that in itself results in increased losses, so if you are stressed and have been for a while, and are not supplementing your diet with magnesium then you are quite likely to be magnesium deficient.

How do I know if I am low?
Some of you will be familiar with the idea that if you have cramps then you are needing additional magnesium, this is quite right but there may well be other symptoms well before a cramp takes over. A cramp is a very overt sign of low levels.

Here are some common symptoms:

Headaches

Dizziness

Nervousness

Confusion

Poor concentration

Migraines

Cramps

Tingling eyelids

Numbness or tingling of the hands

Cardiac arrhythmia

Constipation

These are just some of the likely occurrences of a deficit of magnesium however the overall effect on the functioning of the body can be widespread, from heart issues, to blood sugar control and simply energy levels. There are many studies that show a 30-40% reduction in heart disease - including fatal heart attacks - in those with higher levels of magnesium in their blood

Alzheimers, Parkinsons disease and migraines.There are a number of biochemical mechanisms from studies that show Alzheimers is significantly influenced by magnesium, so by avoiding a low magnesium intake we can give ourselves a degree of protection from this devastating disease.
And once again various biochemical pathways and even the expression of certain genes seem to have a magnesium connection, there is an exciting study happening through funding by the Michael J fox Foundation on magnesium treatment in Parkinson's patients.

And in migraine sufferers it has been demonstrated in some small studies that the use of a pharmaceutical grade of magnesium(Diasporal) reduce both the incidence and importantly the severity of migraines(almost by half!!)

At a dose of 600mg daily there was about a 50% response rate, and while this is a higher than normal dose for most of us, those who didn't respond were given higher doses, and guess what? The subjects that didn't respond in one study were given doses of either 900mg or 1200mg which produced an even better result - when it went up to 1500mg for the few that still had no relief, all migraines were gone. So while there may be important triggers for migraine sufferers to identify, high quality magnesium is worth trying.

Because of its relaxing qualities magnesium is also effective for Asthma. Magnesium helps the bronchi (and blood vessels in general) to relax, so all you asthma sufferers get onto your magnesium!

Pregnancy and magnesium.What are some common concerns for pregnant women?

Eclampsia, premature births and pregnancy induced hypertension are some of them and what these woman need to know is that supplementation during pregnancy has been shown to improve all of these concerns.

Reduced rates of those experiencing premature labor with less hemorrhaging and reduced hospitalisation are some of the results that have come through in studies.

In one small group of 71 women in Sweden - a country where magnesium supplementation is largely unheard of - 9 of the placebo group of 29 experienced increased hypertension, while in the group receiving 300mg of magnesium a day only 1 experienced an increase. This is the power of minerals such as magnesium.

This really is quite simply great news - keep up the minerals ladies, and your body will continue to thank you for it.

And for those who are not pregnant but perhaps don't have much fun with their menstruation with painful periods(dysmenorrhoea) magnesium supplements could significantly improve the clinical symptoms associated with this condition.

And then of course you all know about the importance of magnesium when it comes to osteoporosis - calcium is important(and most of us get plenty of this mineral from food), but magnesium I would suggest is even more important!

But which one?As you are aware there are many forms of magnesium available, so what should I use, which is the best one for me?
I won't list all of the different types available, some are quite specific to certain conditions and will help if a specific health concern is on your mind, but in saying that I am sorry to say that many of the cheaper forms of magnesium will only be of limited value. A magnesium amino acid chelate(particularly the cheaper products) or magnesium oxide(great if you want to create a loose bowel) will not be as well absorbed as magnesium citrate which appears to be best at getting into the tissues and increasing serum levels.

Magnesium orotate or magnesium bisglycinate are both quite low concentrations in many products - for example an orotate tablet may be 500mg but it might only be delivering 30mg of actual elemental magnesium - not much point really and some of the research indicates that complex's such as these are not absorbed at all.

Magnesium Citrate has been shown to prevent hypertension in pregnancy and pregnancy related leg cramps. It supports intracellular energy (ATP) production and can be used as an important nutrient where ADHD, migraines, PMS, and neuromuscular dysfunction are present. For many reasons this is perhaps my preferred form and it has the research and history showing benefits, particularly the powdered form which is absorbed even better than a tablet or capsule.

Magnesium Phosphate is the form you will find in the Active Elements range of minerals and is a simple form that is well used by the body, (I know the people personally who make these products and know they source only the highest quality raw material in their formulations - there are many "cheap and nasty" raw mineral components that I would never recommend for obvious reasons).

Magnesium Glycinate is best used when someone is particularly sensitive to the laxative effect magnesium can have. Glycine itself is a calming amino acid and this form of magnesium can be a wonderful tool for correcting long term deficiency as well as being a better target for those with a blood sugar or diabetic concern.

Magnesium Chloride is often used in a liquid form such as a magnesium oil and may give benefits for stressed muscles when applied topically but will not influence internal serum levels at all.

For those of you interested there is a very simple online survey available at a website that talks more about Magnesium and its importance. You can go there by clicking the link below or for those who like a piece of paper I have created a questionnaire that can be emailed by PDF to you(just let me know in an email):

To summarise, I hope you can see that along side the importance of eating where possible an alkaline diet rich in a variety of mineral rich foods, the benefits of supplementing with quality minerals such as magnesium can have far reaching benefits, we are all getting older and it may be important to understand that adding a magnesium product into your day could well improve your life, and your life span.

If you are interested in using the Active Elements don't forget to complete our online questionnaire - Its FREE. This system has been developed over many years and works very well - it cleverly determines what is required by your body to deal with both acute symptoms and long term underlying conditions so has the ability to give you both symptom relief AND get to the root of your health issues - very clever indeed!

Please check us out on Facebook and "like" our page - We share many tips, tools and cool stuff, and keep you updated during the month with some interesting articles and additional snippets of topical information, there is even the odd laugh and some pretty pictures too

What about YouTube?Here is a bit of fun from one of our own doing it BIG in the US.
A cool tune and a clever act.
Hope you like it.CLICK HERE

Health snippets(International News)

2Tblspoons a day.
The use of coconut oil as a healthy alternative to other "fats" has been the focus of a lot of research in certain areas, one of those is Alzheimers.

Below is a link to an article from Dr Newport explaining how her own husband has improved since using this wonderful "fat".

The Results.
To make a long story short, Dr. Newport started giving a daily dose of coconut oil to her husband, Steve. Just 60 days after he started taking it, Dr. Newport recalls that Steve was alert and happy, talkative and making jokes, and the tremor he’d developed was less noticeable. He was able to concentrate on one task instead of being easily distracted.

Seeing Potential in SeaweedWe have our own version here in New Zealand, the following article talks about an entrepeneurial company in Ireland and it goes to show the potential available in our natural environment.

Monsanto in court AGAIN!As the giant that is Monsanto is about to be gobbled up in a massive merger with Bayer, the negative reputation this company has developed over the last 100 years is really second to none - and its for a good reason, MONEY MONEY MONEY.

DEALs of the MONTH: The End of the Month Deals are from our range of mineral formulas as shown below:

And in addition........we have a book about Acid Alkaline balance written by Professor Vormann to give away to one of you. Its titled "The Alkaline Solution"
Anyone ordering before the end of the month will be in the draw. When ordering online simply write in the "comments"section the words - pH balance - in the place for "comments" upon completing your order. For those of you emailing your order please write "pH balance" in the subject. We will make the draw from those who complete this simple task.Active Elements 2.3(incorporating Magnesium Phosphate)